


Fight Club

by sketchypotato



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, rated T for TViolence is bad kiddos. also swearing, reupload bcos i rewrote the second half, this gatcha straight up obliterated me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 04:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14324277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sketchypotato/pseuds/sketchypotato
Summary: Yuzuru and Ibara sort out their feelings as two ex-child-soldiers with troubled pasts do. With their fists.





	Fight Club

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write this for a while but I was waiting for more backstory, but now that there IS more backstory I'm just. Overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting more than a few lines referencing their past but we got entire scenes with chibi sprites and shit. Happyele really did that. I cried and the translations aren't even fully out yet but I had to do sth?? So here we are
> 
> I rewrote quite a bit of it bcos I wrote the original at 3am and regretted the characterisation a lot when a woke up. If you saw it then I'm sorry

Mao wasn’t sure what he was seeing. He was only checking out the greenery behind the school field because he was looking for Ritsu, who had a sleeping spot around there, and he certainly didn’t expect to come across such a scene in one of the clearings.

On the left was Yuzuru Fushimi, ever well-mannered and polite, a model student and the epitome of a refined idol. On the right was Ibara Saegusa, a top idol in his own right, who always carried himself properly, showing his best face to the audience and everyone he interacts with. The last two people anyone would expect to see in a fist fight behind the school.

And yet here they were, jackets and sweater off, sleeves rolled up. Ibara was cracking his knuckles, and Yuzuru had a grin on his face that sent chills down Mao’s spine. He was hidden out of sight behind some bushes, and his brain was telling him that he should _really_ leave right now, but he couldn’t move. Maybe it was just curiosity (why was Ibara in Yumenosaki anyway?), or maybe it was the sheer energy radiating off the two that told him that this was going to be a _very_ interesting fight.

“15 seconds? Do you really want to stick to that claim, Ibara?”

“Please, looking at you right now, I bet I could knock you out in five.”

And then he lunged at Yuzuru at a speed that sent Mao reeling. Yuzuru parried the punch easily, swinging a kick right back at him, which Ibara dodged. The whole fight was like a scene straight out of an action movie, and Mao stared in awe. He wondered where this side of Yuzuru came from, and while he didn’t know Ibara that well this was very surprising too. They were on the level of professionals, darting back and forth, throwing punches and blocking them as if it was nothing. The fight went on, neither of them willing to give in to each other.

The difference was subtle, but it was obvious who was the more skilled fighter here. Ibara’s actions were slightly more frenzied, slightly less accurate than Yuzuru’s, though the latter still had to use all his strength to fend him off. Ibara suffered a slight misstep, allowing Yuzuru to finally land a blow right at his stomach, throwing him to the side. Ibara was quick to recover, but his heavy breathing gave away how badly he was affected, from the blow and the fight in general.

“Oh? Is that all you’ve got?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“How rude.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP. You don’t know how hard I’ve worked up till this moment.”

“Hard?” Yuzuru raised an eyebrow. “I thought life should be easy for you now, since you’ve decided to be a parasite.”

“What do YOU know about my life now? Since you’ve decided to leave it completely!”

Ibara aimed a punch at his face, which Yuzuru dodged. “All these years” Another Punch. Block. “and not a SINGLE WORD from you” Kick. Parry. “and then I find out you’ve thrown away your life to be in an IDOL SCHOOL? What kind of joke?” Yuzuru dodged his next jab completely.

“I used to respect you, you know. Before you decided to leave to become a dog.”

Neither of them made any further moves, both staring straight at each other “The life that you wanted to live would only get us hurt in the end, Ibara.” Yuzuru narrowed his eyes. “I’ve found my purpose, so I don’t care how you want to ruin your life, but leave me out of it.”

“Ha! You really don’t care huh.” Ibara looked away, wiping his sweat off with his fist. “Really, all those years of being by your side were nothing to you! I guess I shouldn’t have cared either!”

“You only kept me around because you needed manpower.”

“Wrong! You don’t understand at all do you, Yuzuru?“ Ibara laughed now, and Yuzuru wasn’t sure if he was imagining the tears forming at the corner of his eyes. “Who was the one who taught me how to fight? Who was the one who ever cared about me? I’m not talented, and I don’t have a place to go back to unlike you, Yuzuru! Without you, I had nothing!”

“You-“

“I missed you, you bastard!”

This statement threw Yuzuru off for a moment, and Ibara took this chance to give him a punch in the face that he’d been wanting to for so many years. Before Yuzuru could recover, however, Ibara tackled him to the ground, pinning him down. Yuzuru raised a hand to push him off, when he suddenly felt hot tears fall on his onto his face.

“You left me all alone! I thought that if everyone abandoned me, at least I would have you, but the world really is that cruel!”

“I-“

“I thought it was because I wasn’t good enough! That you would recognise me once I surpassed you! I keep working day after day to do that, and yet when you come back you look at me like a dog? Do you know how that feels?”

“Ibara…”

“You idiot! You demon! You son of a bitch!”

“Ibara.”

Ibara’s tears were overflowing, his breath hitching occasionally between the sobs. Yuzuru was at a loss for words, truly, but he couldn’t help but bring a hand up to Ibara’s face to wipe the tears away. The touch made Ibara sob even harder, his head lowering, the distance between their faces closing. Their foreheads were nearly touching now, but Yuzuru didn’t move away, keeping his thumb on Ibara’s cheek as he let it all out.

(Just as he did, many, many years ago.)

 

Then a twig snapped.

Mao was pretty sure he had seen more than he was supposed to. He was also convinced that if the two knew that he had seen what he had seen he would not make it out of the school alive. So he had tried (tried) to leave quietly, hoping that he could give an “anonymous tip” to Sagami-sensei to patch up Yuzuru if necessary. Unfortunately, Mao was not trained in stealth, he was surrounded by dry leaves and breakable twigs, and he had chosen to sneak away from two highly sensitive people. He watched his life flash before his eyes as Yuzuru turned his head towards the sound that Mao made, slowly pushing Ibara off and getting up to face him.

“Isara-sama, fancy seeing you here.”

Yuzuru had his usual smile back on, but Mao could see how strained it was. He gulped.

“Uh, hey Fushimi. Have you seen Ritsu around?”

“I suspect Sakuma-sama should be asleep at the Tea Club premises at this time of the day.”

“Ah, cool. I’ll go off then.” He said, scrambling to get up, turn around, and leave as fast as possible.

“Isara-sama?”

“Yes?”

“You saw nothing happening in this area today.”

“Yes, sir” Mao was happy to comply. Yuzuru was still smiling, but the aura around him was downright murderous, and he was not someone he wanted to mess with. “Nothing at all.” Mao dashed off quickly, feeling like he had barely escaped with his life.

  

* * *

 

 

Yuzuru only relaxed his mask once Mao was far out of sight. _fine_ ’s reputation would not stand to have someone involved in such an unruly fight, so he had hoped that this area was far enough from the main school grounds to avoid being seen by anyone. He turned out to be wrong, but at least he could trust Isara to keep a secret. Probably.

Ibara, meanwhile, remained quiet the whole time. He stood behind him, still sniffling. An awkward silence hung between the two of them, neither sure of how to continue.

A younger Yuzuru would probably leave right there and then, away from Ibara and all this drama. But he was more mature now. If there was anything that year in Yumenosaki had taught him, it was the importance of relationships, and not just with the Himemiyas. In fact, he felt quite bad now for abandoning Ibara, and for being so cold upon reuniting. It was true that Ibara was dangerous and a bad influence when Yuzuru had left, but not once did he think about how he must have felt. And it was probably quite mean to dismiss him so quickly the first time they met after years. Yuzuru wasn’t exactly sure what he was sorry for, but he felt like he had to say something, to try and resolve this.

“I’m sorry, Ibara.”

Ibara blinked, not quite sure if he was hearing correctly. “What?”

“For leaving you so abruptly. I didn’t think you would miss me, honestly.” He looked up. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret going back to the Himemiyas. My time serving them and studying in Yumenosaki has been more fruitful than I could imagine. But it was quite mean of me to shut you out completely like that. Please forgive me.”

Ibara stared for a moment, before letting out a nervous laugh. “Pffffft. Being all soft now, Yuzuru? This isn’t like you.” And then he looked down at his feet. “I guess I should say sorry too. You’re much happier now, aren’t you Yuzuru? I see you really do belong here, in this world of “proper” people and idols. I guess we’ll always be worlds apart.” He looked up again, giving a pained smile as he said it.

“Oh, but you’re part of this world now too, aren’t you? You’d be amazed as to what you can gain as an idol without all of your scheming.”

It wasn’t a full resolution, and probably neither of their apologies were sufficient to make up for their wrongs. But it was a start. Yuzuru held out his hand to Ibara, who laughed again, only to envelope him in an unexpected hug. He buried his face into his shoulder, and Yuzuru found himself hugging back tightly.

“I missed you, Instructor-dono.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Come on, not even for old times sake?” Ibara pulled away, but he was grinning.

Yuzuru rolled his eyes. “You’re still annoying, that hasn’t changed.”

Ibara just continued grinning as they both picked their jackets off the ground. Yuzuru had a first aid kit in his class, but they would have to get cleaned up soon, before anyone else saw them.

“But perhaps other things have changed. I’m glad you have found a purpose with Eden now. Your performance at the SS was quite good.”

“You were watching?” yelped Ibara, eyes wide.

“Of course” Yuzuru replied, not elaborating any further.

Ibara hoped Yuzuru couldn’t see his blush as he ran up after him, heading back to the school building. “Haha! Of course! I’m sure we could easily beat your _fine_ right now.”

Yuzuru scoffed, but then he smiled, already forming a retort. And maybe it was strange to want to rekindle this friendship just after being at each other’s throats not long before. But he supposed, it was much better this way.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter @spacetier where you can see details of me having a breakdown over this gatcha. So glad that happyele finally delivered. Its been 84 years


End file.
